Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rashmi Hudson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Rashmi, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

The luggage industry has stayed dormant in innovations for more than 50 years, since wheels were put on suitcases. And there isn’t a real solution for keeping clothes wrinkle free. You have to carry more luggage and bags than you have arms for in order to take everything you need. Note: existing garment bags only wrinkle clothes because they only have one zipper or because there isn’t a good way to carry them on a plane. Not only that, so many pieces are lower quality, cluttering our landfills (broken zippers and wheels or cracked shells).

After 40 years of traveling, my goal was to make travel less stressful by creating a better system, one that allows travelers to easily carry their statement pieces wrinkle free to boost self-confidence. This is important for business meetings, job interviews, and especially evenings out when we want to look our best. Even at the high-end hotels, irons aren’t checked for performance to avoid burning garments. And, let’s face it, everyone would rather be out enjoying life instead of being stuck in a hotel room ironing.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am an immigrant who grew up in America, learned the language and excelled in school. And, I began my professional journey at a Fortune 200 company before I retired to raise my children. When my son was going off to college and knew he wanted to be a doctor, I couldn’t find a solution for him to carry his clothes wrinkle free. I didn’t want him to stress over his appearance (you only get that first shot) and focus on the interview where content is king. Drawing on my seamstress skills and 40 years of travel experience. I started sewing samples of garment bags. I knew he needed a second bag to carry everything else. But how would he carry these plus a backpack?

After years of ideation, sourcing and patenting, I invented the Alltimate 3-in-1 Carry On Travel System. Our revolutionary system wraps a feature-packed garment bag around a high-performance duffle to create a single carry on to keep hanged clothes wrinkle free. And, both of these pieces collapse easily to fit into our sleek, durable day pack for compact storage. Note some distinctive benefits:

• The garment bag, which can be carried three different ways based on need, allows
  o Carrying longer items (think high-low dresses) or keeping dirties separate in our exclusive 14.5” extension pocket, and
  o Carrying multiple outfits (enough for a wedding weekend for a husband and wife) in our 3.5” expansion in the main body.
  • The duffle
  o Functions as a drawer away from home, keeping you from leaving things behind,
  o Lets you organize everything for easy access in 360 degrees of pockets inside and out (no packing cubes needed), and
  o Keeps your clothes from becoming a crumpled mess because of our hard bottom.
  • The day pack serves quadruple duty as
  o A shoe bag,
  o A stylish day pack,
  o A laundry bag, and
  o A storage bag.
  The bonus item is the ergonomic comfort strap for easy carrying. 

Both the garment bag and duffle include a travel document keeper as well as our Secure Stay technology for carrying atop wheeled luggage or briefcases.

To add to the functionality and versatility of carrying each piece together or separately, I was a stickler for high quality materials so travelers aren’t stranded mid trip with failed luggage. Quality has a direct relationship with sustainability. Add to this the fact that you carry exactly what you need and nothing more, you avoid washing twice as much laundry when you return home. Wheeled luggage, as it was suspected upon invention, only created the illusion of convenience. In reality, everyone overpacks thinking wheels make it easier. In reality, you only wear certain items but wash everything that was packed.

The Alltimate 3-in-1 Carry On Travel System is the perfect weekender when the garment bag is wrapped around the duffle, and the perfect personal item when carried with wheeled luggage for extended travel. Whether being used for business, golf, weddings, cruises, or any vacation, the Alltimate provides the easiest carry-on for planes, trains, automobiles and ships. Upon arrival, simply hang up the garment bag and head out the door. So now, you have your luggage with you at every step of the journey (skipping check-in lines, gate checking, and Uber trunks) knowing you have exactly what you need.

What I’m most proud of is solving a problem with an invention that works across genders, seeing it through a laborious patenting process (less than 13% are women inventors), sourcing for production, and launching it successfully into monetization. Each step took courage, patience, fortitude and gumption. In 2022, I won a pitch contest that helped fund market trials. And, in 2023, I almost won the Inventor’s Spotlight at the PGA (professional golfers association) where the winning products were golf specific. I was also mentioned as the first of top 15 products to check out in the New Product Zone, which had products from inventors and veteran organizations.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I began the 20-year utility patent process (different from a design patent that is only good for 2 years), the attorney told me that my product wasn’t novel (as in new to the marketplace). How was I going to prove that my invention was different? Well, we won that utility patent.

Then, I had to fight for my second patent. There were so many differences that the US Patent and Trademark Office asked me to file separate patents for each major feature. And, they objected to various elements that I had to research to prove my viability. A patent is supposed to be in your industry but the examiner was using examples from other industries. To save on attorney fees (which are about $600/hour), I did the research and provided all the necessary materials.

I now have 1 international patent and just received our third domestic patent.

Have you ever had to pivot?

The biggest pivot came when I decided to jump into the second act. I was coasting with both my children in college. I could have played tennis 7 days a week. But, I didn’t want to be a hovering mother, and more importantly, a person who would lose critical thinking for lack of use. I retired 18 years ago and I had plenty of youth left in me. Instead of just saddling my son with products that wouldn’t work, I put my thinking cap on, broke out the sewing machine, and started working on my first version of the Alltimate garment bag.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://alltimateluggage.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alltimate/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alltimateluggage
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rashmi-jain-hudson-a9256193/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlltimateTravel
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCReGhHl8m1QSSqbKgWHbpxA

Image Credits
Profile photo – Shannon B. Whittington Photography Other images – Sammi Saxon, photographer